With an assurance of serious consideration of their grievances from Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi, the pilots of Air India grouped under the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) have deferred their decision to go on strike, scheduled for tomorrow, till March 15.
“After a very cordial meeting with the minister and aviation secretary, who have assured us the AI management will seriously look into our issue, we decided to defer,” said Rishab Kapur, general secretary, ICPA. He said they expected to see a serious response from the management in the coming week.
The pilots under ICPA were part of the erstwhile Indian Airlines. About 680-strong, they want parity in pay of the erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines pilots, and return of their earlier perquisites.
Negotiations between the pilots and the management and the ministry were on for the last two days.